Cholera is a highly infectious disease normally caused by consuming contaminated food or water. Vibrio cholerae is the bacterium responsible for the disease. The name cholera is derived from the Greek word ‘Khole’ meaning ‘flow of bile’ and Latin word ‘Cholera’ meaning ‘billious diarrhea’. This is the most feared diarrhea disease due to its severity.
The common causes of cholera are the following.
- Exposure to poor hygiene
- Eating raw or uncooked food and shellfish
- Deficiency of hydrochloric acid can increase susceptibility
Contributing Factors to Outbreaks for Cholera:
The real danger is after a disaster like war, famine, or floods, which creates pressure on available water and food resources. The drinking water pipes can get contaminated due to leakages. Scarcity of these basic needs makes life difficult and civic authorities are unable to set right the situation quickly. Things go out of control and affected and infected people may not get identified quickly and segregated from the rest of the population.
The disease can spread further if infected people start using dirty water sources to clean themselves and to dispose off waste. The following measures can be taken to prevent the spread of the disease and bring it under control.
- Drink only boiled or purified water
- Avoid eating uncooked food. Fruits are to be eaten after peeling personally.
- Avoid eating raw foods and shellfish
- Avoid salads
- Sanitation and water purification systems to be monitored
- Vegetables and fruits are to be washed with potassium permanganate solution.
- Health education
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